The new negative list for personal insurance products has been released! Here are the main changes...

Securities China reporters have learned that regulatory authorities recently issued the “Negative List for Personal Insurance Products (2026 Edition)” (hereinafter referred to as the “2026 Negative List”). This marks the sixth consecutive year that regulators have released a negative list for personal insurance products.

The 2026 Negative List contains a total of 105 items, an increase of 2 items compared to the 2025 version. It includes provisions such as listing “the proportion of dividends promised in the product description of dividend insurance that exceeds the level demonstrated in benefit illustrations” as a negative item. Additionally, the new list adjusts and refines multiple regulations related to product clause descriptions, product responsibility design, rate setting and actuarial assumptions, and product submission management.

The newly added and adjusted contents

The 2026 Negative List still focuses on four main areas: product clause descriptions, product responsibility design, rate setting and actuarial assumptions, and product submission management. The two newly added items mainly concern product clause descriptions and rate setting and actuarial assumptions.

One new item is Article 86, which specifies: “The proportion of dividends promised in the product description of dividend insurance that exceeds the level demonstrated in benefit illustrations.”

Dividend insurance, which combines “guaranteed + floating returns,” has become a popular product during low-interest-rate cycles in recent years, but sales misguidance has also increased. Previously, the negative list had already included behaviors such as distorted product design of dividend insurance and exaggerating dividend benefits in dividend demonstrations. The 2026 list adds prohibitive clauses regarding product descriptions, further standardizing the sale of dividend insurance and preventing misleading practices.

Another new clause appears in the product clause description section, stating: “Unreasonable provisions in the review of medical insurance product clauses, such as designating a third-party service provider as the reviewer instead of the insurance company, without clearly specifying the insurer’s review responsibilities.” This clause clarifies that insurance companies should serve as the review entities for medical insurance product clauses and bear corresponding review responsibilities, helping to prevent disputes caused by unclear responsibilities and protecting consumer rights.

In addition to the above new contents, the 2026 Negative List also revises some clauses from the 2025 version.

For example, Article 33 of the 2026 list states: “Weakening of insurance product guarantee functions, with nursing insurance products only covering accidental nursing responsibilities; annuity insurance products lacking both guarantee and savings functions; medical insurance setting excessively high deductibles or too low payout ratios; fixed-amount medical subsidy products with insufficient insurance amounts.”

This description adds the points about “medical insurance setting excessively high deductibles or too low payout ratios” and “fixed-amount medical subsidy products with low insurance amounts” based on the 2025 list. This aims to guide insurers to meet market needs through more reasonable clause design and prevent hype-driven marketing.

Article 34 mentions: “Product responsibility design inconsistent with product definitions, such as term life insurance including optional accidental disability or early payout of end-of-life benefits; disease insurance including survival benefits; nursing insurance including general death benefits; medical insurance only covering medical services; disability income loss insurance including accidental death responsibilities.” Compared to the 2025 list, which included “disease insurance containing survival benefits or accidental death responsibilities,” the 2026 list removes the accidental death responsibility.

Article 49 states: “Annuity insurance, two-life policies, and non-lifetime nursing insurance should be designed following the increased amount format of whole life insurance.” Compared to the 2025 list, this further restricts “non-lifetime nursing insurance” from being designed in the same manner as increasing whole life insurance.

Article 74 has been updated and added: it updates the life tables used for comparison to the 2025 version and adds that “products that do not prudently assess the main responsibilities and select the applicable incidence rate categories as required, or include medical expense reimbursement responsibilities in health insurance without considering inflation factors in medical costs,” are prohibited.

Furthermore, Article 104 states: “Long-term insurance sales channels submitting multiple reports such as ‘individual agents, internet agents, bank and postal agents, brokerage agents’ simultaneously do not meet the ‘reporting and operation as one’ requirement.” Compared to the 2025 list, it adds the specific category of “long-term insurance,” providing more flexibility for short-term insurance under the ‘reporting and operation as one’ framework.

The four main aspects covered by the negative list

As early as 2018, regulators established the mechanism of a personal insurance product “negative list,” regularly releasing such lists to regulate product development behaviors, prevent risks, and effectively protect consumers’ legal rights. Currently, the personal insurance product negative list has become an important regulatory tool.

Insurance companies compare their products against the list, conduct self-inspections, and promptly rectify issues, thereby strengthening information disclosure, enhancing transparency and effectiveness of supervision. They also follow the requirements for full-process management of product development, sales, and retrospective review, continuously improving operational management capabilities.

From the perspective of the 2026 Negative List, the overall framework still follows that of the 2025 version.

The product clause description section contains 27 items, mainly addressing issues such as inconsistent wording and potential misguidance in sales. For example, Article 14 states that the health insurance product clauses have unreasonable waiting period, guarantee responsibilities, or exemption conditions—for instance, some clauses specify symptoms or signs occurring during the waiting period as grounds for exemption, even though these symptoms lack objective standards, harming consumer interests.

The product responsibility design section has 23 items, mainly targeting similar or distorted product designs and unreasonable responsibility arrangements. For example, Article 41 mentions that insurers may indirectly extend waiting periods by adjusting insured amounts or penalize consumers by not fully refunding premiums if risks occur during the waiting period; Article 50 notes that the description of premium addition clauses in universal life insurance is unclear and lacks management mechanisms, indicating insufficient prudence in product design.

The rate setting and actuarial assumptions section includes 36 items, focusing on deviations from actual conditions, unrealistic or unreasonable assumptions. For example, long-term insurance premium payment periods set as two years pose payment risk; universal life policies specify only lump-sum payments, conflicting with the flexible payment features of such products.

The product submission management section has 19 items, mainly addressing issues like missing or incomplete submission materials and related information gaps.

Longtu Bang co-founder and general manager Long Ge stated that the release of the 2026 personal insurance product negative list sends a clear signal from regulators: the core function of insurance is risk protection. Any behavior deviating from this, engaging in regulatory arbitrage, or harming consumer rights will be strictly regulated. The 105 prohibitive clauses are not only a “red line” for product design but also a “guideline” for the industry to return to its fundamental purpose of protection.

Long Ge believes that, in the long run, this continuously improving negative list will promote the personal insurance industry to shed product chaos, achieve a transition from “scale competition” to “value competition,” from “financial management orientation” to “protection orientation,” and foster high-quality, sustainable development of the industry.

Layout: Wang Lulu

Proofreading: Li Lingfeng